Dr. Steve Francis of FrontStream Shares How His Outsourced Staff Is So Efficient In Enhancing His Business…

Quick Access To The Case Study Questions

Dr. Steve Francis is the Managing Director at FrontStream Asia Pacific. He has a PhD in Anthropology, 20 years of experience working in not-for-profits and corporates, and a passion for growing businesses that do social good.

FrontStream is the back bone for famous peer-to- peer events and community fundraising initiatives such as World’s Greatest Shave, Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea and Around the Bay. They offer each of their clients a dedicated account manager to help support and grow their fundraising business.

Why Did You Decide To Outsource?

Steve – Couple of factors. One was, at the time when we got involved with you guys, which was about how long, a year ago, I think a year and a half. I was looking for some solutions around reception, admin, that sort of thing and at that time, our budget had taken a bit of a hit, so I was kind of looking for something a bit innovative, a new solution so that’s really why I approached you guys, originally, I thought I’d have a chat and see if it worked for me.

Nadine – So somewhere that you can get the same work done effectively for a bit of a better price.

Steve – Yes, price was definitely an issue for us, so that was one thing I was looking for, but also, importantly for us was we needed it to work. We need to be able to trust that it was gonna work well and deliver for us.

1 Minute and 42 Seconds

Is Trust a Factor When You’re Outsourcing?

Steve – Absolutely. For us, remember, some of our clients are tier one charities across Australia and New Zealand, and particularly cause we’re looking at reception, and by the way Jo is just absolutely awesome. She’s been with us for a year now. That role is sort of crucial because it’s a first touchpoint for a lot of our huge clients into the organization. We needed a high level of professionalism. We need to be able to trust that she’s gonna be there and say the right thing. So yeah, absolutely crucial.

Nadine – Cool. And how’s that working for you, your outsourced receptionist?

Steve – Absolutely brilliant. Jo’s really part of our team. Whenever we do team meetings, we’ve got her on the phone or on Skype as part of it. For us it’s really important. We’re a small team. We’ve got, including Jo, ten staff. Eleven staff. And so when we do team meetings, we definitely include her.

Nadine – It’s always good to include your team member as a part of the team. I always find that you get a lot more out of your team member when they feel like they’re a part of something larger.

Steve – That’s right and I think we’ve been very deliberate about that, including her. And I think that is really important actually with virtual assistants that they feel connected and then that probably helps them have some drive in what they’re doing, as well. So it’s not some disembodied process.

Nadine – Exactly, yeah. Any staff member, whether they’re in country or not, always needs to feel that sense of connection.

2 Minutes and 31 Seconds

Why Did You Choose Us?

Steve – I’ve got some really good reasons for that. One of the main ones was that, the idea of virtual assistance is brilliant in theory but the idea of trying to find one, then trying to find one that’s reliable, He’s got everything that’s virtual, his whole life is set up that way but I didn’t have the time to look for someone, I just didn’t know where to start. And importantly for me, you are actually based in Australia. That was also a reliability factor.

The fact that I found out that you guys have got your own building, you’ve got supervisors, you’ve actually got power to the building. You’ve got internet. Really important decisions for us as a business because it is, you can imagine, I had this image of virtual assistants which is really great service but might be in a village, which is cool, but where there might be not reliable internet, or any supervision.

Nadine – Or there are gonna be roosters crowing in the background from home, very professional. When you answer a call in that manner.

Steve – Yeah. All those factors meant, and because you guys are based in Brisbane, actually I found out that you go over to the office a lot and check that everything’s fine. That was, for us, that’s why we worked with you guys.

Nadine – We actually have an incorporated business in the Philippines, which means, any agreements, like a non-disclosure agreement or an employment agreement, actually can be executed in country. So, a lot of outsourcing companies, you just need to be wary of would be, they may not have a presence in country, which means anything that’s signed is really a waste of paper if you don’t have an in-country presence.

Steve – That actually makes a lot of sense and for us again, also we’re a technology business. We have PCI Level 1 security in terms of critical handling, all those sort of reputational issues are crucial for us so dealing with an Australian entity was actually a no-brainer for us. That was the reassurance. We probably wouldn’t have gone with virtual assistance otherwise.

1 Minute and 36 Seconds

What Limitations Have You Found In Outsourcing?

Steve – I don’t think I’ve talked about limitations so much as here’s a positive limitation. Jo’s so damn efficient, that my limitations is almost going, I’ll pile her up with work and she kind of does it so well, I’ve got to find some more work.

Nadine – That’s an excellent asset to have.

Steve – There you go.

Nadine – We find that, too, sometimes, like our staff are very efficient because they don’t have the downtime of losing internet or power, you can actually come across that quite a lot. It’s like having somebody work in the office right next door to you. You just talk to them remotely via Zoom or via Skype or via phone call.

Steve – I’m sure all your clients set up in different ways. We’ve set up our processes and it’s Trello boards, and it’s Skype messages, and e-mail. We’ve set up an e-mail under our banner for Jo, and all our phones are routed straight and she answers them. So it’s all very high-tech and very cool.

1 Minute and 4 Seconds

What Does Your Industry Think About Outsourcing?

Steve – That’s a bit of a hard one. I think probably about outsourcing, probably some of the other suppliers are using outsourced staff. Not so much in a kind of particular area but I know that, for example, with fundraising, a lot of charities employ suppliers that have call centers. Or those sorts of things. Because for example, good practice in fundraising is, if someone makes a donation or if they’re regular givers, you should acknowledge them though a phone call. Often, charities employ call centers so in that case I think that’s where the industry’s kind of started to grow into virtual systems.

Nadine – With a bit of communications stuff.

Steve – Donor management, donor connection stuff.

1 Minute and 17 Seconds

What Would You Say To A Business Who’s Actually Looking At Outsourcing For The First Time?

Steve – I would say a couple of things. I think you really need to know why you’re going to employ a virtual assistant. You have to be quite specific. And have enough tasks before you get into it. The other thing is, I think we found with you guys was that we could give it a go for a month. We weren’t tied into some owner’s unbreakable contract. For us it was like, let’s give it a go.

Nadine – It was good to know that you could try it without having a 2-year contract that you’re stuck in if you didn’t like it. And a part of what will cover that is actually a guarantee that if the person isn’t the person, we will replace them for you without any additional charges. That’s kind of a backup as well because you don’t actually have to go “yeah I just wanna be out altogether.” This isn’t the right person like you would with any employment.

Steve – So far, so good. It’s worked really well.

25 Seconds

What Can You Say About Your Outsourcing Experience?

Steve – It’s really been worthwhile for us. It’s really enhanced our business. It’s easy to administer. It’s actually affordable. It actually is so for us it’s a bit of a no-brainer, really. Had a great experience.

The average business owner works over 50 hours each week, with an additional 25% working greater than 60 hours each week. On the flip side, the average number of hours your staff work is decreasing, falling from 35.5 hours per week in 1979 and now at 32.8 hours per week as of 2009.

The most common response around the business owner working greater hours than their staff is costs associated with hiring staff in their business. Based on this trend, business owners will have to continue to work more hours every week in order to remain successful in business unless they find another way to break the cycle.

This is where outsourcing / offshoring your daily and weekly tasks can assist in the growth of your business. This can be through the freeing up of your time, allowing the reallocation of funds into other areas like marketing or the support of your existing staff to better enable them to do their jobs.

Our Method Of Outsourcing

We have a professionally operated and maintained commercial premise within the Philippines offering very clean and professional office environment, continual fibre optic internet and uninterrupted power.

Our method of outsourcing ensures your team become an important part of your business, at the same time allowing full control of your team and the handling of your proprietary or sensitive information.

You control each stage from hiring to daily assigning of tasks with your team (local and overseas) acting as a support for your offshore staff and offering peace of mind to grow your own offshore team.

Personal Assistant Tasks

Personal Assistant Tasks

Assisting with daily tasks that overly occupy your time. This can be following up with suppliers, ordering client gifts, booking flights, email management, co-ordination of you calendar managing your social media profiles and much more.

Customer Support

Customer Support

Manage incoming calls, customer satisfaction surveys, tracking of products, email & support tickets and escalation of important calls for action.

Social Media

Social Media

Actioning & development of social media plans. Social media interaction and growing your social media reach, development of sales funnels and creation & management of social media accounts.

Correspondence & File Management

Managing electronic filing system and email correspondence including labelling / filing of emails, proper filing of files and applying naming conventions to filing structures based on custom specifications.

Software our offshore team use daily:

HOW YOU CAN GET A FREE CONSULTATION!

We understand deciding if outsourcing is a good fit for your business can be daunting which is why we offer a no obligation Free consultation. When you contact us we’ll have a brief chat to get a better understanding of your business and will discuss ‘HOW’ outsourcing can work within your business. We’ll share key points of outsourcing including the ongoing investment, exact applicants that you can get access to and the infrastructure we have to support our clients. To find out more about this Special Offer, fill up the form below where we’ll grab a few simple details and will be in contact shortly.

Have you had experience with outsourcing before?: (Yes, No, I've done some research - optional)

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OTHER HAPPY CLIENTS

Bite the bullet and give it a go. It’s been an incredibly valuable addition to our business. We’ve taken steps forward, we’ve only been doing it for a few months and I’ve already seen significant change to our business.

I’d just like to thank you guys for what you’ve done for us as it’s been really, really helpful.

Damien MissoProfessionals Woody Point

Outsourcing has changed our office, it’s changed how I run my business. I have time to work on my business, instead of in my business. My local staff now have time to concentrate on inspecting properties, instead of completing mundane tasks like Lease Renewals and Rental Arrears. They don’t have to worry about as it’s all taken care of.

If there is anyone that is looking at outsourcing to contact Affordable Staff as they have made it so easy and I cannot recommend them enough.

Stacey JacksonHarcourts Coomera

I can’t recommend Affordable Staff highly enough as my team are fully supported. The pressure is taken off where we can now have lunch every day and actually leave on time every afternoon.

Lauren Robinson Rental Results

We have operated with a remote team assisting our property management processes over a year now. Our experience with Affordable Staff has been fantastic.

The way they recruit and then induct the team is second to none. I can say this because we have had experience with another company. They are easy to deal with and upskill the girls on the programs before they start working with you.

Their understanding of the industry is great and they are all very easy to deal with. If you are considering hiring a remote team, Affordable Staff are the people you should be talking with.

Michelle Rigg - General ManagerRent West

Affordable Staff have been brilliant for our business. Through their staff selection and training of those staff specifically for our needs, we now have highly skilled, outsourced staff helping us with a range of functions including marketing, SEO, data mining, administration, and reception. They have helped increase our human resource skill base significantly while reducing our costs. It doesn’t get better than that in business!!!

I would recommend Affordable Staff to anyone needing a reliable and cost effective outsource solution.

Dr Steve FrancisFrontStream Asia Pacific

I’m happy to talk to you about how it’s assisted us, and how we’re able to trust David and his team, and we’ve got other mutual clients that you could talk to as well.

I’ve had a long term relationship with Affordable Staff as a client and Trust them strongly.

Andrew ReeceInspect Real Estate

After more thank 12 months of procrastinating and Damien holding my hand and guiding me though the entire process,

I am so excited to have taking on my first VA. I was very reluctant and didn’t really have the time for change and training, but it was far easier than I thought.

After just a month… I now could not work without Ely. This has literally saved me $1000’s (in just a short period of time) for our graphic design work alone.

Debbie PalmerPPM Group

I chose to work with your company as I already knew who I was dealing with and we worked together to find a solution for me.

I felt supported and I was confident that my concerns and needs were acknowledged and responded to.

Laura SillanoPOD Financial

Having a VA has allowed me to focus on growing my business. Outsourcing has allowed me to focus on my business.

Karen NgRoger Ng & Co Business Accountants

Quite honestly, the biggest feature for me is the foundation in how Affordable Staff works. There is a strong focus on support and development of the team. For anyone looking at outsourcing I encourage you to give it a go. From first hand experience it has all of the positives and none of the negatives.

Keith MarshallAustralian Mortgage and Financial Advisors

Growth is everywhere you look at the new Renowned Furniture. We have added a new French polisher whose background harks from the Melbourne, Toorak elite where fine furniture and antique restoration are of a very high quality and we’ve also added a new joiner to assist with all the day to day joinery.

Our turnover here at Renowned has increased by more than double in the past 12 months! At a time when so many businesses in general are saying that they are quiet and so many businesses in our particular industry are downsizing or closing!

Dan ValmadreRenowned Furniture

Once I learned details of your business model and your structure there was an automatic TRUST and it wasn’t a difficult decision to use Affordable Staff once we’d completed our own Due Diligence of your business. It’s a good feeling to be able to pick up the phone, talk to someone locally which gives you an ultimate sense of confidence.